Dolton mom is ordered held in drug death of her daughter

Patrice Garner emptied whatever was left of two bottles of her antidepressant medication, enough to kill her 6-year-old daughter and to put herself into a coma, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Those details and Kierra Garner's autopsy results were enough for Cook County Circuit Judge Thomas Condon to order Garner, 35, of Dolton held in lieu of $1 million bail on the charge of giving her daughter a lethal overdose.

Prosecutors did not disclose why they think Garner gave the "large quantity" of amitriptyline, an antidepressant, to her daughter or why she took a significant amount herself two months ago.

But officials said they believe her escalating problems with her husband, Dr. Grady Garner, played a part.

"The victim was not prescribed" the antidepressant, said Assistant State's Atty. Christine Opp. "We believe this is a very serious crime."

But Patrice Garner's defense attorney, Tommy Brewer, said the drugs were his client's, a prescription filled 13 years earlier.

He said his client was saddened by the charges, adding that she has the support of her husband, who sat in court Wednesday as details of his daughter's death were revealed.

"He believes in her innocence," Brewer said outside the courtroom. "She wants the public to know as well as the family she would not intentionally kill her daughter."

Brewer declined to say how the drugs ended up in Kierra's system or why Garner had antidepressants. He said Garner would plead not guilty to the charges.

Brewer said the prosecution's failure to offer a motive as to why his client allegedly drugged her daughter was noteworthy.

"If they thought there were issues, they would have named them," Brewer said, "as far as relationships to her daughter, to her husband."

Dolton city spokesman Sean Howard said the couple's marriage was troubled.

"It came to our attention months ago that there were some problems with the marriage," Howard said. "We are not saying that it led to the outcome of this situation. But it won't be dismissed in this case as the subject matter will come out in trial."

Garner's husband declined to comment Wednesday as he left the Markham courthouse.

His wife hung her head as she walked into the courtroom, dressed in a bulky winter coat and brown pants. She spoke in a whisper, forcing the judge to ask her a question twice.

Medical experts said the common form of amitriptyline is taken orally.

"It's one of the oldest antidepressants we have got," said Dr. Stephen Dinwiddie, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Chicago. "It's not used as much as it was 15 or 20 years ago."

That's because doctors have opted for safer drugs with fewer side effects, he said. Amitriptyline has several side effects, including the possibility of causing heart arrhythmia with high doses.

Garner's mother, Princess Oden, discovered her daughter and granddaughter Jan. 5 unconscious on a bed in the Garners' one-story home in the 15700 block of Dobson Avenue, officials said.

Garner moved to her mother's house in Chicago after recovering at Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, police said. Her husband also has moved from the home where his daughter died.

Dolton Police Chief Elton McClendon called the situation tragic. "The sad part is, it's a [mother] and a baby," McClendon said. "A family has been torn apart."